anemones

Red Anemones

6x6in  oil on canvas   $85.

These red flowers are all what I could salvage from the painting the
dog messed up yesterday.
The original was nothing like this.
It had beautiful red, purple and white anemones in a glass vase.
C'est La Vie!

Irrigating the Pecan Orchard.

Irrigating the Pecan Orchard

6x8in  oil on canvas panel  $100.

I have painted the orchards quite a few times. Achieving the water
reflections can be a daunting task as all the trees
are planted in straight rows, but the trunks are apt to
lean  in slightly different directions.

Artist note.

This is an emergency fill-in for a painting I worked on for many hours
today and then dropped it because I tripped as I was moving over to where
I take photographs. My dog - called Kat, rushed over thinking
I was throwing a Frisbee. Get the picture. Think of a Blue Heeler with red, green
and multicolored patches over her face.
 It shows the magnitude of my love for Kat that she is still alive, but her ears
are set backwards and she looks quite dejected... most likely with my screams
of, drop it, drop it NOW, still ringing in her ears!
OR maybe it was the shampoo used to wash her face and neck.
If something like this has happened to you, please make me feel better
and share your own stories.

Plum and Roses

Plum and Roses

8x6in oil on canvas panel    SOLD


I tried for a more muted palette today
and for the life of me I could not get the fracturing correct.
Frustrating!

Artist Note.

Regarding a transition value or color.
This may sound elementary but I am
always seeing hard contrasts where there should not be any.

Hard edge. Perfect for point of interest.
Usually the lightest light
next to the darkest dark

This is a value between the
light and dark.
The transition between the
two values (and color)
is a way of softening an edge
without blending them.






An example would be trees where they meet the sky.
A mixture of the foliage color with the sky color
makes a better transition. Some artists will let the tree
color mix into the sky color as they paint, but that often
gets a chalky effect.
Best to mix a new color between the two

Have a look at art books to find the transition colors
the masters used. I promise you - it is fascinating.

Exception. If your style is hard edged/high contrast
then this obviously is not for you!

White Roses

White Roses

8x6in  oil on canvas panel   SOLD

I wanted to have some fun today after working so hard on the
polk-dot vase yesterday. This little group of flowers did the trick.
I like the happy colors.

Artist Note.
When I have something light next to something dark
I always try to place a transition color/value to step
the values together. With white flowers, the shadow
area is important to achieve that, but so are the edges.
I do try leave a high contrast in the focal area...
don't always remember though!
Will show a little demo of transition value tomorrow.

Sunflowers and Polka-Dots

 Sunflowers and Polka-Dots

8x6in  oil on canvas panel  SOLD

This DPW Challenge is by the fabulous artist, Carol Marine.
The Polka-Dot Challenge . I was asked if these Challenges are
competitions. No, they are held weekly to stimulate and
share work with other artists. Anyone can submit to them.
They are fun and you see some really creative ideas
and  lovely paintings.

I had set my mind to paint something yellow today
so it was easy to place sunflowers into my neat, polka- dot jar.

Artist Note.

There was a request from Maga, on today's post asking what I had learned
about becoming more comfortable with using yellows when I did
my series of lemons.

First and foremost... never use white to lighten, only to mix the highlight.
I think that had been my main problem.

I used Holbein - Naples Yellow Italian to take the acid touch out of
 Cad Yellow Light - I had three brands of CYL in my box, trying to find one I liked
Richeson - Unbleached Titanium. (fabulous for lightening warm colors)
Windsor Newton -  Indian Yellow. The only brand I like for IY.
Windsor Newton - Cad Yellow deep.
Rembrandt - Transparent Oxide Brown.  Beautiful with the Indian Yellow
to reach darker shades, keeping them transparent
and adding a bit of Naples to move into
a lighter area before adding cadmium yellow

Fracturing the Roses

Fracturing the Roses

6x6in oil on canvas board   SOLD

Had a lot of fun with this one. Guess what...No LEMONS!
I guess my series has finished. It only took 17 lemon paintings!!!!

This is completely from the imagination. I was drawing on memory
from the series of roses I did in October/November last year.

Fracturing is a term I came up with for my own work in this technique.

Artist Note.
For those of you who do not do a "series" or wonder why I would
do them, this is my story.
Yellow bothered me. I disliked some of the acid tones I seemed to get.
I never used raw or burnt umber  on my palette - which is
common to darken yellow.
I used purple, the complement, but still had a struggle.
If the purple was too bluish then I would produce green...too red a purple
and I would get an unpleasant brown. Plus, it all depended on the type
of yellow or brand, but now I have found a comfortable way of using yellow
which I did not have before the series.  The series was successful.
This morning I came to the studio and started to paint
the underneath part and found myself getting rid
of the lemons and putting in roses.

The Perfect Couple

The Perfect Couple

6x6in oil on canvas panel   SOLD

Red is very hard to photograph and I had to work hard at this one
because my first efforts were way too bright.
 I did learn a something though... never paint a red teapot on a day when company
is due to arrive!

One Too Many

One Too Many

7x5 oil on canvas board   SOLD

One too many because I am running late and this would have been
quicker with one or two lemons instead of the three.

Final day of teaching at the Guild until August.
Part sad and part glad to have time to finish a commission or two.

And The Winner Is...

And The Winner Is...

8x6in  oil on canvas panel  SOLD

Lemon or limes?
Easy, for painting them, the lemon wins hands down.

Artist Note.

Still painting some of the same objects as I find that working on
something I find difficult, becomes easier each time.
In this case I am talking about painting the cans.
Trying to learn how do do the fracturing technique has been
requiring a lot of intense concentration.
I stop and take notes when it works and also when it doesn't!
My notebook is starting to look as big as an encyclopedia!
Does anyone else keep notes on their paintings?

Lemon with Cans

Lemons with Cans

6x6in oil on canvas panel    85.

For the Dailypaintworks Challenge - Seeing Double. Where two paintings
of different sizes have to be done from the same source material.
This is the other painting done from the same set up as yesterday.
I just moved my easel slightly and zoned in on the cans.

Artist Note.

Here is the grouping in the studio. All these things I had recently painted and
placed on the counter ready to be put away,
but as I was walking past them the colors caught my eye
and I found them beautiful.

yes...that is masking tape in the top
right corner! My level below it.
The plum and little vase was
replaced by the lemon and lime.
The turquoise pencil was right there.
It all looked perfect so I brought my
easel over and painted it as is.


I had to be careful not to have both cans too shiny so I made the closer
one more detailed. The cans were the most difficult thing to do with
the fracturing technique.

Pencil with Lemons

Pencil with Lemons

8x6in oil on canvas panel    SOLD

This color combination, red, yellow, blue and green, all in the same painting
can be one of the hardest to pull off. Need your sunglasses?

Artist Note.

This is for the Daily Paintworks Challenge , Seeing Double.
Hosted by Artist, Kimberly Santini.
You have to do two painting of different sizes from the same source.
I painted two side by side.
I will post the other one tomorrow.

Regarding the rainbow of colors in the painting above.
The grey cans help act as a foil against the bright red colander.
All the yellow lemons have some green and red in them.
The green leaves have red and yellow - get the drift?
Everything should be harmonious when mixtures contain
similar bases.
The turquoise pencil is the stand alone color but turquoise
is a yellow/green blue and I moved small touches of it around
here and there.
I think the golden rule is to not have equal amounts of all
the different colors but I have seen it pulled off beautifully
in expert hands.

Falling Out

Falling Out.

6x8in  oil on canvas board   100.

On these small pieces I enjoy trying to paint something
challenging so I thought I would like to paint the lemons
with back lighting.
After painting and studying lemons in this series
my goal is to paint them from my imagination.


Artist Note

It was all a struggle on this piece. I had a different surface
to work on and I found it made a big difference. It was much
more difficult to achieve what I was after.
This is a Raymar, medium tooth, landscape cotton.
Great for landscapes but pretty tough for a fracturing technique.
That's the way I find out these things...the hard way!

Seriously,
I almost put a headstone in with the title, Lemons - R.I.P.

Odd Man Out

Odd Man Out.

6x6in oil on canvas board   SOLD

Yes - that is a lime on top of the lemons.
Running late as I was painting on something else today and forgot the time.
This is a Mexican, hand-blown glass bowl with deep, greeny blue tones at the base.
Heavy, but lovely with its imperfections.

Waiting to be Sliced

Waiting to be Sliced.

6x8in  oil on canvas panel  SOLD



After soaking the lemons to get rid of any pesticides,
 I drained them ready to slice for lemonade or my glass of water.


Artist Notes.

I have painted this cheerful, red colander before and it doesn't get any easier.
Especially with the fracturing technique. I am still figuring it out. Some things
are easier than others.

My colander was not a full circle because of my viewpoint which was not
directly overhead.
This is how I do a slight ellipse.

First I draw a square in the size I need.
Corner to corner to find the center
then half it both ways.
Make your circle as shown

Estimate the depth of the bowl and
the size of the base.
As I was looking into mine I could see
the full bottom with more of the sides
showing on the far side.
First I drew the horizontal line below,
but parallel to the first one (see red)
add to existing center vertical - as
a reminder - and do a smaller, full circle
for the bottom of  the bowl.


In my case I did this first before I placed the lemons back into the colander.
It helps me understand the depth of what I am working with.
It is is not perfect, but it beats the heck out of making a box
in perspective to make the correct ellipse.

Milk or Lemon in Your Tea?

Milk or Lemon in your Tea?

8x6in  oil on canvas panel   SOLD

Still on the lemons. I had a couple of requests to see more of my dishes
so I thought this would be a fun way to show them.

Artist Note.

The color temperature of the light bulb - in this case warm, dictates the
colors of the shadow.
Warm light, cool shadow and cool light, warm shadows.
It really did make an aqua shade on the creamer.
My question is...I think of aqua
as a warm blue. Do you? Should I have painted a cool blue
even though it looked aqua and warm?

With paint, everything is relative to what it is next to and
the aqua is certainly cooler than the colored rim.

Lemon on Saucer

Lemon on Saucer

6x8in  oil on canvas board   SOLD


This was a demo for the Guild this morning.
Believe it or not, I own a set of these funky dishes with wonderful colors
and patterns on them. Had them many, many, years, used them every day and still love them.
Not for the faint of heart for sure!

Artist Note.

I did a yellow, green and orange wash to start off with.
Painting is not completed yet.

Lemonade

Lemonade

8x6in oil on canvas panel   SOLD

Mother's Day today and thinking of my own, wonderful mother
and although she is no longer here, the memories are as
clear and loving as ever.


Artist Note.

The incredible painter Abby Ryan came up with the the
 Daily Paintworks Challenge this week. The Yellow Challenge

One day too late to put in my lemon slices from yesterday!!!!

Abby asks the question - what does yellow mean to you?
Easy - sunshine, happiness and feeling good.



This time I thought I would see what it was like to explore fracturing
with painting the lemons in water.

 YELLOW
My palette was:
Titanium white
cad yellow light
Naples yellow
Indian yellow
Light red
viridian
Transparent brown oxide.
I put some yellow in every color I mixed.

Lemon Slices

Lemon Slices

6x6in  oil on canvas panel   SOLD

Another fast one so I can spend time with my son while he is visiting.


Artist Note.

Still working on the fracturing and trying different yellow mixtures with this one. I set up a higher key
and then thought it needed a dark, so I put in the knife.

First try at setting up.

The only dark is the shadow
all the way at the edge.
(My eye stays in that spot.)

The knife adds a dynamic angle
and dark value to offset the
light colored, round shapes of the
lemons.
It also moves the eye around
and back up to it.

Lemon Peel

Lemon Peel

8x6in oil on canvas panel    100.

One of my sons who lives in another state
surprised me today with a visit (for Mothers Day)
and I naturally want to spend
time with him. So this is a fast one!


.

More Lemons

More Lemons

6x6in oil on canvas panel   SOLD

This is a warmer paint choice than yesterday's blog.

Artist Note.

I love blue and yellow/orange colors together,
 but I wanted to see if I could have a more
monochromatic color harmony and still have it
where I liked it.
I toned down the blue into a soft grey
using Venetian red and Ultramarine blue.
The trick when using dark colors together in a mixture
is to first make them as light as the value 
you want... and then mix together.


Venetian red is very powerful stuff and it got on my
hands, nose and ears. I now know where I scratch
when I am absorbed in my painting.

Slow-dry Lemons

Slow-dry Lemons

5x7  acrylic    sold


Three lemons are fun to paint.
I am one of three daughters (middle) and I reflected on the differences
between us...as I was trying to set up the lemons from
different angles, sizes and shadow areas.

Artist Note.

This is in acrylic.
I am going to do another one and try it a different way.
With this one I put Slow-dry in the mixtures to keep them
nice and soft. Acrylic took some getting used to for an oil painter like me.
The colors hues seem to be completely different than oils, even with the same
color name. I only seem to use it when I want to try something new or dry fast..
I use a Styrofoam egg carton for my acrylic palette.
The cups are deep enough to keep the paint moist longer
and a damp, folded paper towel fits in perfectly so you can
close the lid, have lunch and come back to find everything still very moist.

.

I also keep them as a reminder of the color palette I used for different paintings.
They stack open really well.
Styrofoam is a horrible material for disposal into the landfill, but one of our high
schools has a garbage machine only for Styrofoam and the kids place their lunch
containers in it...unwashed! It makes solid blocks to be used as paving blocks
and other building parts. Quite brilliant. I love the school for getting it.
Guess where my old palettes go!